Another underwater hotel?!

IMAGINE piloting your own submarine around a pristine lagoon before retiring to the bottom of the sea at your six-star resort.

Well, that and a lot more extraordinary and exciting exploits of a watery kind are in store for sea-travellers at Poseidon – the world's first sea-floor holiday resort. The bad news is you'll have to wait until mid-2008 to visit the resort based on an island off Fiji.

http://www.news.com.au/travel/story/0,23483,20362899-27977,00.html?from=mostpop

http://www.poseidonresorts.com/poseidon_main.html

Hydropolis

Have you heard one of the latest... sleeping in a underwater hotel surrounded by ocean and fishes? I am not kidding (if you havent already heard). In return for this out of the land experience, you need to pay as much as US$5,500 per nite.

It's the $500-million Hydropolis Hotel (http://hydropolis.com) now being launched in Dubai, the capital city of Jebel Ali in the United Arab Emirates.

The project is nothing if not ambitious.Hydropolis will be the world's first underwater luxury hotel. It will offer 220 suites, all sitting on the Persian Gulf floor 66 feet (20 meters) below the surface.

Builders will also be installing the hotel's security features, including missile-detecting radar and watertight doors that can seal off entire sections of the facility.

Each room, for example, will have an adjustable control panel for changing settings for lighting, patterns, sounds and even smells. A "water screen" will also be positioned between the hotel and the shore, with colored lights and images projected on its surface at night. In addition, colorful images visible to both guests and on shore will be projected nightly onto the domes' roofs. And the glass-heavy hotel will protect guests from the Mid East's broiling sun with artificial clouds, produced by a giant fog machine above the surface.

http://www.crescent-hydropolis.com/
http://www.designbuild-network.com/projects/Hydropolis/

NTU Glaring Advert Typo

Jas sent this "unfortunate" article and was teasing who was from NTU.... (me being one of those naturally took the bait...)

I told her jokingly, probably the admin person who was in charge of this ad post wasnt even from NTU...Still, such an embarrassing advertisement for the varsity!

However if you have watched Simson movies, you will remember the scene where President Arnold proclaim: "I am voted to LEAD not to READ!" haaa haaa!!!

My gripes after 3 weeks in Oz

Saw Jo's Blog on starbucks and that reminded me of my "dissatisfaction" of the limited selection here in Sydney. In fact, almost everything in sydney is abit backwards (sorry i have to say this to my sydney host).

Fashion:
Generally I noticed that people in sydney are not very fashionable (i think melbourne looks better) . They are happy to go anywhere in sneakers, and their fashion season is like almost 1-2 seasons behind Singapore and HK not to mention europe. Ladies are constantly in boring 2 piece black suit for work, or a lumpy cardigan to keep them warm in winter. Plus..dun even bother to look into the lingerie shops. *Yawn*
In HK winter, Its amazing to see the vibrant colours combination on the street. Much that I think HK girls are weird in their consistent 2 layer dressing and 3 quarters tights under skirt, at least in overall, you can see some fashion sense. So now here I am, I regretfully confess my fashion has gone down the drains too. To my own horror, I catch myself happily sneaking into my sneakers when i go out now, something I would never dream doing ever since i graduated from college.... and i am guilty of abandoning my nice overcoat and slip into my track pants and columbia fleece jacket...sigh.


Cakes:
Ok not talking about restaurants here coz sydney has lotsa GOOD food and desserts.
(However, I miss my "coffee shops", "Hawkers" and "Cha Chan Teng" where there are wide selection of food and snacks and cakes. )
You know in asia where we have those cafes where those moist cakes or mousse cake that totally lure you into the stores and couldnt resist buying a few even though you know they are rich and sinful? Here in Sydney, none, and i mean NONE of the pasteries shop/ cafes has even manage to entice me to cast a glance longer than 2 secs. Its so sad. Somehow, they just look dry and uninviting. They are mainly pies, and bread stuff and the cake just lack imagination. I went to those bakeries, I went to david Jones market, I went to all the cafes in whole Bondi Junction malls. Nothing. Nothing calls out to me. I do not even have cravings anymore..
Starbucks
And starbucks, they do not even have my usual favourite "Banana- chocolate" muffins!!!!! They have it in Tokyo (the last time i was there), in singapore, in HK but NOT in sydney. When i asked, the girl thought i was silly and said "Oh that is LIMITED edition during last christmas" WTF??! Why?! Why should any good tasting muffin be limited edition? I could weep in despair. And the starbucks here doesnt carry those great tasting choc cakes as in HK do. Instead, they dish out those boring pies and sandwiches and salad. People in sydney do not know what they are missing....

Mobile Phones
Sydney has the oldest model possible ghees! The motorola razor is one of the current range they are selling now. Talk about pathetic. Even my fren from England said that they have more current models than what australia can offer. I wont even want to go into the rest of the electronics equipment models....(as you already know in my prev post, i still cannot find a humidifer in sydney which is in abundance in sg and HK.) I couldnt fathom the cause really. Is it a buyer issue? Hmmmm...

Braised Oyster Sauce chicken

Decide to cook some oyster sauce chicken today. So i thought I will look up internet to see if I remember all my mum recipe correctly.

Came across this braised chicken recipe instead.. looks yummy. Gotto ssave this and try another day. Just to show u what i mean... i repost the pix here

For receipe, click here to original site.

My Simpson and Harry Pie!!

I bet in no time, the world will be hmming "Spider Pig Spider Pig..." Its hilarious.

As you would have guessed by time, watched "The Simpons Movie " last time. Ok I used to be a big fan of Bart, then I outgrew them. Just wanting some light entertainment over serious magic, I opted to be unexpectedly entertained by Holmer once again and the 87 mins past by in a breeze even though as we all know, its a no brainer plot. If you are watching it in the name of good fun, you will be grinning from cheek to cheek.

I simply love the spider pig scene. It totally crack me up, and the "dare you" scene between holmer and bart was another typical laugh. Farneeeee!!!!!

After the movie, was feeling peckish and so decided to head out to Harry Pie (Harry's Cafe de Wheels) ! Come to think of it, it was EXACTLY 10 years THIS TIME that I last ate Harris Pie!!!!!! I remember Gwen took me and Alvin here in her car ride excursion showing me sydney when i was there after my graduation trip. How times flies... feeling nostalgic... Yup, it was sooo good that after a decade, I am still craving for it. That's HOW GOOD it is for midnite snack.

When I got there, the stall was crowded as usual but the smell of the pies hit me and I was growling for foood!!! The smell was heavenly!!!!! Almost everything is the same. The same spot, the same smell, the same "birds hanging around for scrap" scenery. Oh my god. Its amazing going to another country and have almost everything the same.

When i got my chicken pie, I was actually fearful, worrying "what if the pie no longer taste as good?" My worries were unfounded. The pie taste just as superb though somehow it seem smaller in portion now. I vaguely rem it was so pretty huge bite in the past. Oh well. Who cares, the inflation does that to any food chain.

So if you havent tried Harry Pie and you are in town, I absolutely urge you to come have a bite!!!! You just wont forget it ( not to mention the experience of steam hot pie in your hand while you are roughing it out in the cold overlooking the peaceful wharf before you)

Location in sydney near King's cross
Harry's Cafe de Wheels is a pie cart located in Woolloomooloo, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia on Cowper Wharf Road, near the Finger Wharf and Fleet Base East of Garden Island Navy Base, opposite the Woolloomooloo Bay Hotel.

Oh my singaporeans..:)

I was bored and started surfing facebook and it got funnier and funnier as i surf through some "singapore groups". Somethings that only singaporean can laugh about!

******

Doby Lin
I remember when i was backpacking in Cambodia, we got to know some really nice people from Canada.. So we decided to travel together... And one day , this conversation popped up...

Them: Hey... Like you guys (3 singaporean kids) do you feel like uneasy that you have to speak english all the time when you are with us?

me: Erm... Uneasy? Why is that so?

Them: What language do you speak in Singapore?

Me: English?

Them: You mean that Singapore teaches English? So its not like Cantonese or Mandarin or something like that?

Me: Thats my mother tongue...

Them: So what was that weird mix of english and stuff u were talking about...

Me: (ponders) OH... you mean when we were bitching about those stuck up F****H tourist? Haha... we were bitching in SINGLISH!

Them: Wow cool... So thats your language? We have something like Frenglish in Canada!

Me: Wah lao... That roxx la....

Them: What you just said?

*****

Cheryl Lam (France) wrote
Haahahahaha. I was reading our fellow Singaporeans' hilarious stories below on how 'misunderstood' we Singaporeans are and this is damn funny.

Me: "Bonjour, I'm your new classmate, Cheryl. I'm Chinese and I am from Singapore."
Classmate: *disbelief* "You mean you're a chinois chinese?"
Me: "Yess"
Classmate: "Oh. Aren't you supposed to be from China?"
Me: "Nope, why do you say that?"
Classmate: "Oh! I thought all Chinese come from China!"
Me: "I'm a Singaporean Chinese"
Classmate: "You mean Singapore's not in China?"
Me: ..................

WTFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

******

For those of ya'll who've lived/are living on the sunny island of Singapore!

You know you are from Singapore when....

1) You speak or randomly break out in Singlish
2) You crave chicken rice or the various uberlicious hawker foods
3) Tying a soccer game with Malaysia actually means something significant
4) You say rubbish bin and not trash can
5) You end every sentence with a 'lah'/'lor'/'hor' and everything looks much better with 'x's and 'z's (right horxxzzz?)
6) You understand all the references in www.talkingcock.com (and find the site funny)
7) You're intimidated by the thought of a 45 minutes to drive to the nearest mall.
8) You are able to communicate in plethora of languages & dialects
8) Swearing in numerous languages & dialects is natural
9) You know that Newton Circus serves up shit food, but still go there anyway
10) You “chope” seats at food courts/hawker centers with little tissue packets
11) You've sung the national anthem since you were in primary 1 and still have no idea what it really means
12) There's always a traffic jam near a vehicle accident 'cause everyone slows down to copy numbers for 4D
13) You start using acronyms for everything, such as ERP, PIE, MRT, SBS, SMS, CTE, IPPT, NCC, SOC(army word)...... and many more.

Out for a spin

Nightlight

Bored. so took a eve snap.

What the Singapore Flag means to the next generation..."

Had a good cynic laugh when i saw a blog post on "What the Singapore Flag means to the next generation..."

Is this next generation for real?!!!

Yoshii Restaurant and so undeserving...

It is friday nite out again and once again, I opted to go Japanese. This time round, I wanted to try Yoshii Restaurant on the Rocks.

Yoshii, based on google and food guide is supposedly one of Sydney's most inventive chefs, is renowned for his creativity and adventurous cuisine which is a truly sensational and satisfying experience. In fact, he is a constant winner of 2 chef head under the gourmet rating. I say "supposedly" because if i were to rate it, its performance today from what they dish out tonight was a blah 2/10.

There isnt ala carte, so you basically have to choose from "Yoshii" or "Saqura" Course (sort of like degustation menu where you get in order bits of everything decided by the chef). Opted for Yoshii because Saqura was too fish oriented.


In a quick summary, the 2.5hr of dinner experience was an extremely disappointing one that leaves me wondering aloud if :

• Is this the best Japanese food australian food critics have ever tasted and thus awarding him the 2 chef hat, or
• Is this the best that sydney itself can offer to win the 2 chef hats

To describe my meal briefly:

1. I had "Sea urchin egg cup" as starter. It wasnt too bad but half boiled egg and urchin are not my favourite, not to mention combination.
2. Followed next was a combination of pieces that include funny tasting tomato mousse, lukewarm noodle in bonita flake sauce, averahe duck slices and weird tasting biscuits
3. The 3 combination dish was weirder and horrible. The main attraction was the black cod cooked with blue cheese that totally obscure the cod's sweetness. The lotus slice was mashed with some indescribable cheese thing that made it very heavy. What was worse was that there were 3 fish bone in the fillet and got stuck in my throat. In which, the apologetic staff (who tries to convince me it has NEVER happened before) offered me free drinks and tea for the night.
4. The veal or was it Wagyu beef with mushroom was the only decent thing but really, it isnt merit of the chef. It will take a really bad chef to spoil a slice beef dish. Again, lotus root was used and it was battered fried but when it reach my table, it was soggy and I didnt even want to touch it despite being an ardent fan of lotus root.
5. The worst of the night was the scallop mash up with lotus root (again), served with a big slice of tri colour fishcake, in gluey sauce served in a bowl. Now, why the chef wants to mess up perfectly good scallop befuddles me. I felt like i was tasting something in mash potato texture but a bland taste and i hated it. Plus, why on earth do you serve fish cake as a main? It has always be ornament piece to me.
6. Lemongrass sorbet sucks
7. Dessert was moderately ok when i choose the mascaponi cheese covered with soy flour. I opted wthout the black sesame.

So there. If you are in town and looking for good Japanese food, save your penny and avoid Yoshii for dinner. Stick to Azuma which by comparison has shown more authenticity in retaining its Japanese flavours and not to mention, cheaper price tag.

Japanese Grocers in Sydney

In my quest to fulfil my Japanese foodstuff craving, i found this in website. I must check these places out... I simply must......

Japanese Grocers in Australia

Ichibankan
(02) 9247 2667
36 Nurse Walk, The Rocks, 2000

My Mart
(02) 9251 8732
Level 2, 10 Bulletin Place, Sydney, 2000

Nippon-Ya
(02) 9251 7911
Shop 2, 109 Harrington Street, Sydney, 2000

Usagi-Ya
(02) 9369 3121
1/314 Oxford Street, Bondi Junction, 2002

Tokyo Mart
(02) 9958 6860
83 Sailors Bay Road, Northbridge, 2063

Anegawa Trading Co Grocers
(02) 9417 5452
16A Deepwater Road, Castle Cove, 2069

Anegawa Trading Co Grocers
(02) 9904 4177
7 Waters Rd, Neutral Bay, 2089

Screaming of "Protectionism"

While shopping for things to buy for dinner in Coles Supermarket, it struck upon me how much "protectionism" is being practiced here in Australia. Almost 95% of the produce frm package food to local perishables are mainly from Australia. While I have no problems at all for the fresh vegetables and poultry (am already saything my thankful prayers from not havng to eat contaminated food from CHINA), my main gripes lies with packed food.

For one, I cannot find Tropicana Juice nor any japanese milk in the shelves. In fact, I cannot find anything that isnt "Made in Australia". Damnit it people, I want my Tropicana OJ from states! I want my Meiji or hokkaido milk. Back in Singapore, am used to having WIDE assortment of imported juice and milk or any beverages, including from Australia (nudie crushie!!). Granted Australia milk taste good too, but I just want my variety ok? I am used to being "spolit" for choice...I am used to growing up in a truly "cosmopolitan" city. Sobbb...

Secondly, bread. In Coles and woollworth supermarket, I couldnt find anything that is of "smaller" packs, everything sold here is for giants in gia-normous pack! So that means I can't eat them fresh every other day. In god's name, what am i suppose to do with a huge loaf of bread that is of at least 25 slices in a pack? I dun have a family of 10. Plus I didnt like the taste of the bread here either. I am a sopping idiot i know its just bread but i cannot help it.. At least in HK I had easy access my Japanese milk bread in citi-super, when i couldnt have my usual "Bonjour Milk Bread" or "Gardenia Banana Walnut" or "Sunshine wheat" bread as in Singapore. In sydney, even my nutella taste weird on their bread..

Thirdly, Rice. Having eaten 30years of Fragrant Thai Jasmine rice, suddenly my options are cruelly and brutally limited to a few australian long grain white rice. I almost flung my arms in despair. What?! No more Thai rice that entice my hunger with it steaming fragrance, working up my appetite?! Forlonly, almost pick up this nasty looking australian grain until at the bottom obsure shelf, i spotted a pack of jasmine rice. The one and only pack!! Horray!!!! I could almost weeped with joy!! However please note, jasmine rice cost more than double the rice. Do i look like i effing care?!! Ha ha! Firmly tucked under my arm i headed to check out.

Also, luckily I have one small shelf labelled "Asian Food", so thankfully i still could locate my chilli sauce with ease, though they apparently have never heard of this thing called "Chinese Rice Wine". Great. Wine prob only consists of white or red wine here, sigh...

I canx believe I Just did that!

I did the most unthinkable thing yesterday. I joined a Gym.

Ok, joining a gym is no biggie but I have never ever proactively self talk myself into one, until yesterday... I guess in life, there is always a first time.

Basically as i was walking aimlessly in Bondi Junction, I stumbled into Fitness First and wanted to ask the price. After like about half hour nearing the end of the consultation, I was about to walk off because seriously, asking me to fork out $300 for initial membership is not part of my worldly plan, no matter how much I know i need to excercise after 2 years of non activity while staying in Hong Kong.

As heaven will it, the consultant's peer told him the promotion of today was waiver of membership fee. So that means i get to join without having to pay the A$300, only the weekly subscription fee of A$24. That sounds reasonable.

I struggle for a while and finally i did it. Because i need to get my procrastinating butt off the sofa and start some movements or my joints will eventually crack at every movement. I need to get my health back and into shape. I get tired and sick easily now and its not good. I use to be so much healthier back in singapore where i could still jog round the track or reservoir or even swim by usual 40laps. Hong Kong's air is so bad that I just didnt want to do anything extra that will force my lungs to pump in extra filth through my body filter system. Now I think i can barely manage 15laps. Disgusting and pathetic.

So I took the plunge. I still cannot believe it and reeling from some degree of anxiety and disbelief at what I just sign on the dotted line.... I should be in one of the classes today but I overslept from staying up to read my book, plus my cough was back last nite.. was it from anxoety?! Ghees....

So tomorrow, I promise myself I must go tomorrow. Afterall, didnt i just spend $300 on my gym gear?!!!! Arrrggghhh.

Beautiful sunny day

Its a beautiful sunny day today. I love it.

Ikea and Peter of Kensington

Last weekend was a fruitful one.

Amongst other bits and pieces, head out to Ikea and bought myself a new bedside table. Driving there was a little tricky as the instructions in the website said to "enter via Rhodes shopping center." Like hell i know where that is since it wasnt on the driving map. However, with a stroke of luck and eagle eye on my part, I noticed a little sign that said "Rhodes Shopping center" along the way just before the traffic lights. So we did a quick change of lane and turn left, with me crossing my fingers and toes that I didnt make a major boo boo, which surprisingly for a change I didnt and led us right on the shortcut path. Henceforth, we saved a good 30mins from the intended roundabout detour (based on the map).

The selection in Ikea was suspiciously smaller range than that of asia. Basically, I didnt have any designs to choose, they were all deadpan solid colours. My beloved Ikea fleece blanket range was strangely limited to 2 types and vastly smaller in size, compared to those i bought in singapore previously (not to mention missing in whopping design selections).

While it didnt have the usual asia service (MIA really), thankfully there was a computer for me to locate the asle of the tableboxes i needed. As usual, it was utter pain to fix it up and wondering where the screws and bolts should go and I bet my neighbour below was none too pleased with the hammering noise at 8pm. Still the end result was immensely satisfying, with my little new reading lamp stack on top too!

In the same day, went out to "Peter of Kensington" warehouse sale (Thanks to michelle's recommendation!) and bought a whole new load of scanpans! If you dun spend any time in kitchen, then you wont understand the beauty of scanpan. Top of the range with its non stick feature, good heat diffusion and solid no nonsence steel. Its a steal out there today coz the pots and pans are so cheap. I had to hold a tight leash on lanny before he went absolutely crazy, and i mean hilariously crazy. I have never met a man so obessed in pots and pans....

Dinner @Azuma

I never knew it is possible but yes, I'm actually suffering from "Japanese Food" withdrawal!!! I miss my Japanese food sooo much that I JUST have to have my Japanese food. So tonite, brave the cold and went to try out this place "AZUMA", which is suppose to be one of the good one in sydney (getoff @ Martin Place train station)

The food was delightful. The variety isnt as wide as you would get in Asia. Even Sashimi is relatively limited to mainly Tuna and Salmon and fresh prawn. As I am still recovering, I decided to give Sashimi a miss and head straight to cook food.

What we order was

1. Tempura Ebi Maki
2. Chawamushi (steam egg)
3. Braised Pork Rib
4. Fried Pacific Oyster
5. Abalone cooked with butter and garlic, served in shell
6. Grilled eggplant with miso

In terms of taste, i would say its pretty tasty but I wont call it excellent. Food presentation isnt their strength after you have eaten enough japanese food in Japan, HK and Singapore. However, service was delightful and attentive and friendly.

The prawn in the maki was kinda small like a scampi unlike the typical big fat prawn that i got accustomed to in asia. However the grilled eggplant was excellent, and they even remove the skin which made eating a breeze without having to scrape the flesh off the skin.

The oyster was a bit overfried and so it wasnt as succulent as i had hope and the abalone was abit too buttery but still tasy.

All in all a good meal for A$143 and totally satisfy my cravings for a good japanese meal. I am missing terribly the jap restaurant that Josephine and I always go to in causeway bay now...Still, I am thankful for the great dinner tonite.

Contact Details for Azuma Japanese Restaurant
Tel :(02) 9222 9960
Address : Level 1, Chifley Plaza, 2 Chifley Square (Cnr. of Phillip & Hunter Street)Sydney NSW 2000

Pictures of my bare place (Part 1)

Here's a picture of my lovely ladybug toilet rug,

and my pathetic computer corner...

My Brand new but lonely samsung LCD TV (on my landlord's table)

My unit views

The temp is expected to drop down to 3 degrees today. Am already feeling the cold chill creeping in the house since 4pm which is rather unusual. I basically don't need a fridge, everything that i left on the table turns super cold anyway.

Finally found my camera and here's a sneak peek through my balcony and main bedroom view @5.32pm. What you are seeing should be Double Bay. Also get to catch a glimpse of the Darling Harbour Bridge hidden behind the building.

Enjoy! ....

Peaceful Friday

I have no idea how Dom manage all the energy to take pictures and then download them into his blog. I'm dead lazy. The thought of having to plug the camera, download, reshrink the pictures, login to my blog and then upload the image is already so tiring in my head...

Anycase, weather in sydney started off with pouring rain and now at 3pm, its bright and sunny again. The house infront of my apartment is sprouting soot prob from their fireplace and so I figure i better shut the window for today.

Went to Kam Fook Chinese restaurant last nite in Bonji Junction for dinner. After a week of total refrain, i couldnt take it anymore. I just have to HAVE that COKE with my peking duck dish. Of course i Paid the price of having my cough getting worse that nite, but i JUST have to have it!!!! Feeling it gulp down my throat feeelsssss sooooo goood..... *burp*

Walk around Target for a quick look and came out empty handed. There is absolutely nothing for me there.... I think I should stick to Myers. By far, Myers has shwn the lowest price and great variety for most daily stuff u need.

I stare forlonly at the pile of ironing to do today. I misss my maid already. Damn. Now I actually have to figure out how the piece of sprouting steam device works. I just HATE ironing... arrrrgggghhhh!!!

Fallen out of love with raw veges

I scream the loudest scream yesterday when preparing dinner. In that instant by the sink, I almost felt faint. Cause of my panic attack? Worms. Fucking many fat, long, vile looking brownish red worm alive and crawling out of my watercress when i was washing them in hot water. it was f*&king disgusting.

I have seen my share of worm in all sort of vege. mainly the fat caterpillars of the white sluggish creepy crawlies hidden in between the clusters of my brocoli. Its disgusting but hey, at least i know when i chop them off, they are GONE. These watercress worms are another matter completely.

First of all, I have never EVER seen worms in all the water cress I have bought in singapore nor HK. NEVER. So I flip when i saw it out of those "fresh" bunches from coles dropping like dead flies in the first bunch. Oh course i freak and scream. Initially i thought they were leeches! You should have seen those bastards. They look fat, and long and kinda transparent layer wrapping them and the thing has that brownnish red colur. They look kinda like earthworm i think. I'm sure you got the visual image.

So I rinse and rinse and more kept dropping out, coz the fat ones dropped first, then the small ones. Just when I thought they were clean, I drench them in hot water and more fell. I was exasperated. Should I throw them or keep them? These is my only dinner and i hate to walk out again in the damn cold.

Mum always said watercress are "dirty" and must wash thoroughly to rid of all the worms and parasite. You know when you are young, you prob think mum exaggerates too much, afterall, never in my life have i ever seen one in watercress. So in that desperate moment, i tried to remember what my mum said and in all possibility i think that made sense, i soak the damn watercress in HOT HOT water *kill those bastards* and in case they cling onto the crevices, i added tons of salt and vinegar. I definitely saw things falling off. Did that twice and wash the vege stalk by stalk. and repeat the process twice. Before i drop them in the soup stock, I cook them again seperately and dump garlic into the water and again repeated twice,

I know i sound absolutely anal, but alien bodies wasnt part of my dinner plan. if you have seen those disgusting things, you would be just as para-anal.

I google more about the worms and apparently liver flukes grows mainly to watercress grown in contaminated water, i'm not sure if that is what it is. So much for australian freshness. And people do get infected if they eat wild uncooked watercress.

So the next time you are having that "fresh raw" salad, my advice to you is to always double check your content for extra flavour. Otherwise, wash and bring your own vege, else, order the cook ones if paranoid.

My BFF

Got a buzz from E this eve. It was absolutely fantastic!!!!! I miss my gf! In fact i was just thinking about her last nite and here she is, just on the other end of the phone! How cool is that!

We chatted for over an hour (of coz i was warm and snug in bed), ranging from her new job, exams, new hair, my move etc. It felt so good to hear a familiar voice in a foreign land, especially when you are moping around the house in the cold and coughing your lungs out. I was JUST SO excited to hear her and I miss that spunk, that cheer in her voice. It was sooo nice!

Just an absolute lovely nite. She reminded me of buying a mask which i completely forgotten.

You see, that's why we have good frends, they are like your family extensions! Speaking of which, thanks to Anna's thoughful medi pack that got me thru so far. If she hadnt pass me those extra medicine she gotten from her doc for common cold and sorethroat when i move to HK, I would be 10 fold worse now I swear to god. I dun go travelling without my little medi pouch now stuff with "goodies", just canx risk it especially when you do not know if u have a good doc near you when u need one.

Good Friends, you simply cannot live without them.

my whinges and Ooooss

Been tryng everything to get rid of the cold, from pear juice, chicken soup to the most traditional chinese cough mixture (with pi pa).. apparently nothing works just yet. Damn, looks like I have to "cough" it through till my body fights it off.

*********

Electric blankets are the best invention for winter nites... so warm and cozy, I dun ever wanna leave my bed. Thankfully in typical Australian fashion, most houses like mine is carpeted, except the toilet. After a few nites of cold tingling shock up my feet from midnite "weee", I headed out to lifestyle shop to grab the longest widest rug i could find to lay the floor. And i got a cute lady bug one too!!! Ok, I know, that's the 0.1% little girl in me making the purchase decision. I always have a penchant for ladybird :P

*********

Bodum thermal "lipstick" flask, what o earth would i do without them to keep my throat warm in the middle of the nite when i thirst from dehydration... glup glup... nice....

*********

I like Bondi Junction, they have everything there! Well almost.. just not a humidifier..

Not a humidifer in sight...

The nites are really cold here, down to single digits and it only make me miss my down quilt even more!!!! My shippment is only gonna arrive on 20th and excluding the time at australian customs, i am hoping to get everything in 2 weeks!

Strangely despite the really dry air and the heater sucking out all the moisture in the house, no where in sydney sells a humidifier. I hunted every store and no retail stores carry it. Its an agony when you have a cough and cold and the dry air simply irritates it worse. So i have to wake up every other few hours to wet a face towel with hot water and place it over my face to breathe in some moisture. Bloody tiring if you ask me. Not to mention the eyes become really dry too, am just glad i dun have to wear contacts.

The only bright spark i have here is the cheap thrill of having an in-sink erator. They have it quite widely in us and this apartment has it too and i love it. What it does is to grind all the left over food bits waste and so you simply have less "wet" garbage. Not sure why asia doesnt implement this grinder thing in the new flats, so darn useful when you are cooking! And i love the fact that they have so many recycling bins easily available at my place so that i can throw them out easily into the different categories for the plastics and papers etc.

Not hving to work, simply made me lose track of time. I stop remembering if its mon or sun. Trust me, i'm not complaining, totally enjoying every moment of this stress free life at this junction. Feels good (except for the cough and cold of course..)!!

My grief in sydney

Something hit me so suddenly that one moment i was fine, and the next I had the worst sorethroat and was burning up. I guess the winter flu is making its round on whatever host it can find. So now here I am, suffering from s.throat, cough, flu, fever and backache (frm sleeping on the floor for 3 days). My landlord was a doll. He found out my lack of sleep and offer to send down a old single to tide me thru. He is an absolute dear.

Australia service industry is a slump and a dump. Everyone has been so incredibly outsourced that the people no longer value or take pride in their work. They are just so slack. Imagine buyng a new washer, dryer and new bed, and the delivery guys just dump the stuff at the doorway and tell you their job doesnt include assembly. Ridiculous isnt it? They expect me to heave a bloody washer by myself? Jokers. Just terribly disappointed for a country like sydney not to have any sense of ownership. Utterly useless. These sort of standard will never ever cut it in Asia. In singapore, HK, it is literaly expected that setting up and delivery are part of the bundle of purchase. In Sydney, its a completely different scene. So anycase, never again will i ever by anything from the store "the GOOD guys." more like "The Arsehole Guys" suit them to a T.

And Telstra as usual, big company with all the internal crap, hotline doesnt even pick up the line after 30mins of waiting. All you hear is excuses and excuses. Of course, the helpdesk is completely useless and they didnt even know how to fix my complaint of crawling broadband connection. Tell me all stupid things like clearing cache etc. If she wasnt located in India and before me, I would seriously wringe her neck. So in the end, I just run trhough my laptop and fix the prblem myself based on my suspicion. It was just the network card settings, the stupid helpdesk didnt even think about checking there despite the fact i told her the packet rate sent/ receive is just looking too wrong. 60k byte vs 104 byte. One engineer even tell me my laptop (2 yrs old) wont be able to pick up the speed. I wanted to stare incredulously at him but decide not to insult him. Too tired.

Went to get Vodaphone prepaid card and that simple thing gave me problem too. Its crazy. It keep prmptin me to send message every minute. Brought the card back to the store and both the guys couldnt resolve the prblem either. Strangely, when i inserted their sim card, i didnt have any problem. Seems like the prepaid card and my phone doesnt click.The strange side of technology.

And NEW Electrolux washer, couldnt spin properly. Damn thing moved like 50cm from the original spot and i have to wait the WHOLE day for someone to come in on thurs. No time specified. Just whole day. So what, they gonna bring me lunch? Again, its stupid and crazy.

The only thing that didnt give me a headache? My new Hi def samsung LCD TV bought from Myers.

Now, That is a MAJOR relief....

a hectic day

The greatest hassle in moving to another country is starting all over again.

I dun just mean the circle of friends or knowing people and shops, its the paper work, the stocking up of stuff for the new place, facing the tormenting customer service of all the service providers like phone, electricity, gas, internet, banking etc. Its just crazy and absolutely time consuming. They should have a group of people who help settle new "immigrants" and let them take care of all these hassle, so leaving us more time and space to worry about other aspects.

Been all about getting new stuff to stock the place. Myer is having a great sale so bought tons of country road towels, bought a new Samsung small TV while waiting for my old plasma to be shipped over, bought tons of groceries and detergents etc. Damn, hell loads of unpacking to do later and cleaning up too! not to mention a really $$$$ exhausting excercise in replacing everything left behind.

It has been raining the past few days and mostly near eve time. Went over to jamie place and pick up some chairs and a camping bed thing to tide over till my bed arrives. Driving in australia is just as tedious as in HK really. Alot of lanes are no turns and once you are on the wrong road, it can be quite abit of headache as well. In HK, most roads are one lane and so you essentially only worry about front and back. In Sydney, lotsa roads are 2 lanes, so now while figuring the way, you have to worry about cars from ALL directions. Not fun at all and its really exhausting.

Still adapting to ways in sydney and its already a horrific experience just trying to get my temp prepaid mobile SIM card. Its a PAIN and god, i wish there are more singtel in Australia without trying to complicate my life any further with all the 101 types of plans (which are all just to squeeze every peeny out of me) and honestly, service in Optus just doesnt cut it, telstra is expensive like hell and so i thought i'll try Vondafone. I'll leave the story that for another day. Time for dinner...

Simmons, the great bed to get

If you are looking for a bed, hesitate no more and head straight to Simmons and look under the sang wool series. I laid on it and i swear to you, i didnt want to ever leave my bed. I thought my current simmon bed was "evil enough" to lure me to stay in bed for long hours, but this new model which absolutely moulds to my body and absolutely no movement detected even if you roll a truck across!!! I think i run a risk of ever leaving my bed room alive with this new bed! haaa haa.

This new Simmon mattress works on the similar principle as that "nasa" designed mattress that contours and support your spine but this is even better! The nasa mattress takes a while to sink in ever time you change your body position so your body need to constantly adapt to the changes. I reckon it takes about 6 secons for the mattress to recognise the new position. The simmon model, only about 3 secs and you hardly felt it.

I think Simmon is really just unbeatable. I tried the various major brands and i tried Sealy, they just dun cut it. I just keep feeling the spring underneath that its annoying.

The funniest thing is that my butt is such a good detector. No kidding. it "sniffs" out the best type of mattress , telling me if its too firm, too soft, too springy etc. Once my butt likes it, then I will lie on it. The sales girl keep telling me that I must lie on it and not trust my "butt' but i beg to differ. So i sat around a few mattress and told the salesgirl my gauge on the type of mattress accurately (soft, medium/ firm/ spring/ latex/ foam etc) and so she was kind speechless and let me be.

My butt are pretty good sensor, considering i sit on my bed a great deal more than i lie on it since i like to read / watch TV / use laptop on my bed. if my butt doesnt like what it "feels", my body wont like it too. I love my butt. haaa haaaa.

First few days in Sydney

Weather in sydney is pretty cold and dry. Even with my normal moisturer, my face was drying up pretty much and i had to slap on the thick hydrating cream. Thank god for La Mer. Expensive but does the trick every time and rescue my face almost instantly!!!! Forget Estee lauder or Lancome which only works for me in summer.

Come to think of it, I have practically lived close/coming to a year in winter and autumn between HK and Australia by end of the cold season! I love it I love it. I simply love the cold wind in my face. And the crispy clean air here compare to HK. Its a sharp contrast mind you. The funniest thing was that the wind was so strong yesterday that I thought it was going to lift me off the grounds! Jamie laughed when i told him "if i have longer hair all over my body, I would prob be flying now!!"

People ask me if i miss HK, i hate to blog this but my instant reply was no. For one, it isnt my birth country and much that it gave me great moments in the one year plus there, i cannot honestly say i love staying there. I missed sg, but just not HK. Its not an easy place for me to love considering i dun like to hang out, I dun club or pub and constant shopping isnt my sort of scene (unless i need to get something).

However after saying that, I forgot the appreciation of late hours in HK for the food and malls just to get groceries and stuff. For the first few days in sydney, strangness hit me when all the shops were close by 6pm and I didnt know where to look for late food. Luckily the service suite I'm staying for the time being had 24hrs dining and that solve my dilema for a while. And today, we had to rush around because the mall close at 6pm and we needed to grab a new HDTV and towels for the new place. Talk about making snap decision.

In term of service response time that I had to remind myself constantly to slow down and be patient. I wish they would stop chattng so much during serving and just go about to get the Q moving. And i couldnt understand why getting a new phone+ internet account with Telstra required us to be on phone for over 30mins and put on hold for multiple times! Crazy (but still not as bad as HK PCCW where no one even picks up the damn hotline). So its those efficient things that I am missing from Singtel / singapore already. I thought HK was frustrating, i can see it will not get any better here...

Terrible Cathay Pacific Service

I couldnt believe Cathay you know. They tried to upgrade us from business to first class, but the seat was faulty and doesnt allow the seat to recline or flatten out. Now, what good does that do me for a 9hrs flight? So i said no to the "down" - upgrade and wanted to retain my biz class seats. The STUPID HK guy who couldnt smatter a decent line of english still gave me the first class seats anycase and was so self convinced that those were the right tickets. I walked to another lady and she told me the seats were fixed.

When i got into the cabin, i asked the senior flight attendance to test the seat before i would accept the change. She told me the seat was faulty. I was furious at the whole stupidity of the situation. I demanded to have my seats back, especially when i said NO to the change in the first place. Talk about incompetency.

A flurry of stewardess, engineers, ground crew walked in and out of the plane, while they stiff us to one corner and expected us to wait for good 5-7 minutes. They were lucky that i had enough sleep and so my tolerance bandwidth was pretty high that night. Finally, I had enough and i told the senior stewardess that i just want my f$%$^kiing seats back coz i want to sleep and finally they got moving. And of coz, the next morning before we land, one of the senior stewardess came to us and apologise profusely about the unfortunate incident. I told her that the moment has passed and i wasnt mad anymore. However, I didnt tell her that it was an "unforgettable" moment that I was ready to forget so soon.

So once again, cathay pacific service is terrible, it sucks and people in HK really need to learn to speak decent english. i cannot comprehend for the life of me, how cathay pacific can possibly beat SQ. not being partial here but many things, cathay pacific left me pretty dissatisfied more than happy bubbly. Plus if you think SQ girls aint much of a lookers, you might as well cover your eyes with the eye mask on CX as well. You aint missing much either...

Happy Movers

If you ever have to relocate, I strongly recommend Santa Fe to do the job for you. While I didnt think much of the surveyor and the admin person, the packers/ movers are absolutely a relief. They are always chirpy, careful and efficient n going about to do their job. They finish packing our place in 1.5day and they simply ease the worries of move by more than half. The last thing you need is someone trying to wreak your stuff even before they get out of your house!

We heard of horror stories where our friends had their cargo left out in the rain and half of the stuff were damaged. I am crossing my fingers that while the movers are good, hopefully the cargo at the ports dun get mistreated!!

The movers told me lotsa of stories in their work. Over the 2 days (after realising that I dun breathe down their neck at all), they got really friendly and told me some of the horrors they see in 18years of their work.

One of the indian clients had offered them beer and later turn the table on them and complain that they stole the beer and drank during their work! what an arsehole!!Another incident that they shared was one HK Chinese family, their maid offered the workers coke and the owners ended up complaining to the company that the movers stole their coke!! Of coz the maid wont say a thing since she didnt want to get reprimanded!

I was shocked at the existence of such crappy people and also laughing at realisation why the workers were pretty hesitant to take the drinks and coke from me on the first day since they werent sure what to make out of us. By the next day, they were more accepting and by the end of their shift, they were happy people with 6 bottles of red wine from us since we didnt want to bring them to australia with us. Its a small reward for all the hard work. Then again, these movers are pretty lucky i would say, I dun think many local clients would turn the aircon on for them for 2 days for their comfort either!! Yet, I think its a small price to pay (in terms of bill) if it keeps them happy, and my goods safe and sound:) logical aint it?

Halfway thoughts

Am halfway through packing. Its amazing how much junk I have accumulated, so this is an excellent opportuntity for me to offload things i have been procrastinating to dump, and some decent spring cleaning. Luckily Santa fe is doing most of the packing and i just need to pack those which i'm gonna lug onto the plane with me (which is still rather alot!!!!) I hate to say but I think i have bought too much shoes. Its tough trying to squeeze 7 pairs of shoes into my cabin bag man. Arrrgghh.



People been asking me what's my plan next after the move. Answer is "Nothing". I have absolutely planned nothing. Just gonna idle and bum around for a while till my next calling. I guess its time to take my long overdue "sabbatical" leave and so a break is good for recharge.

Friends asked me if i am heading back to cosmetics industry. I have no clue at this junction. I love the industry and its challenges, and the hectic schedule. but right now, I just need a break to recharge. One step at a time baby.

Kev wrote to me today. He said it felt so strange for him to walk past my table and no longer see me there. I smiled. He's the most sentimental of the lot and I know I will miss him too. Its funny how the most unlikely person always end up as my good friends.

Catching up

It was a utterly rush trip back to SG. Couldnt stay any longer due to packing for the move in HK. The girls took leave and we met up for lunch and went shopping and of coz, we talked,talked and talked non stop. Some things just dun change:)



Visited wah at his new place on thurs nite. Considering it was across my bro's place, it was incredibly convenient. The compound was quite nicely built and so was his place. It was lucky that i caught him that nite coz they were leaving for Bintan the next day. So we chatted till about close to midnite before i took my leave.



My bro drove us to his favourite BBQ haunt coz he knew i havent had those BBQ stingray for ages. Even though we always have family dinner together the last year since I left, nothing beats this one. Finally the good old times are back and things are back to normal and everyone can finally relax. Phew!

On sat noon, my exboss came over my bro's place to catch up since i didnt have much time to hangout. We talked about what's happening around him and I told mum the Boo BOo about my boss 's sotong history. Mum said i shouldnt be so "mean" when my boss is so nice to me, but kf conceded he is really quite blur. Haa haaaa. he's a nice chap, plus he's so use to my "bullying!!" whaahaaaa.

Mum tried to take a picture for us before we left for the airport but i guess she still wasnt use to digital camera and so both takes turned out fuzzy. Oh well, technology does get some getting use to and my camera isnt the most friendly.



Kf's got himself a Honda Jazz. He said I have the honor of being his first passenger apart from his wife. Soooo flattered:) However, as usual, kf didnt fail me on his blur-ness. It was hilarious about his failed attempt to get me to terminal one. Can u imagine? 2 singaporean getting lost on way to airport?!!! Haaa gaaaa. I was like telling him "No No!! Left lane Left lane to T1!!!!" Kf said "ooopss... too late." So we ended up parking at T2 and took the Skytrain across. I jokingly asked him "Do u know when was the LAST time i took the sky train?!!!" :)



He hung around till it was time for me to board the plane. I told him that i honestly forgot how it felt like to have someone sending me off. It was really nice of him. Been so use to travelling by myself that I almost forgot to turn around and wave bye to him as i cross the immigration. Ha ha.



All in all, a short but good trip. Happy! Will be months again before I will be back. I am so going to miss my chinese food....